


You and Me makes Us

by DarknessAndFyre



Series: Us and Them Makes Family [1]
Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: ADHD, Alternate Universe - Human, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Angst with a Happy Ending, Autism, Aziraphale goes by Zachariah, Character Death, Childhood Nicknames, Comfort, Family Fluff, Family Issues, Growing Up, Illness, M/M, Making Love, Meet-Cute, Minor Injuries, Multi, Original Character(s), Protective Zachariah, Sadness, Scared Anthony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:08:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 15,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27213931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarknessAndFyre/pseuds/DarknessAndFyre
Summary: Tony Crowley and Zach Fell meet each other once, by chance, when they are young. But, fate doesn’t bring them together again for years.
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Series: Us and Them Makes Family [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2062182
Comments: 176
Kudos: 40





	1. Prologue -  Meet Cute

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, this is my third multi chaptered fic. It's set in an alternate human universe. The name Zachariah kept rattling round in my head, it's definitely Aziraphale but with a different name.  
> I have almost 3 chapters plotted out plus the prologue. I hope to update weekly so to give me time to get a few chapters ahead of the story. 
> 
> I'll update tags as I go.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to my human au.

A softly spoken white blond-haired boy whispered to his mother. His mother smiled encouragingly,

“Go on then.”

Golden eyes narrowed as the most dazzling blue eyes made contact with gold. A polite little cough,

“May I play here, in the sand, next to you?”

Golden eyes grew wide as he realised that the little boy in front of him was asking permission from him. He coughed.  
“Um, yeah, if you like,” he hesitated, “we can play together.”

Blue eyes widened as he smiled and took his place next to the strange little boy with golden eyes and scarlet hair.

Neither had ever had a friend before. Children thought that Anthony must have been from the Devil with his fiery scarlet locks and ‘weird’ gold eyes.

Poor Zachariah hadn’t fared much better, with his softness and his quiet way about him. He shied away from other children as they were always too loud to be tolerated. Other children just found him ‘strange’ as he preferred books over friends.

Zachariah’s mother, Mary, sat down on a nearby bench. Anthony’s dad Peter watched him from another bench. They didn't talk. Most people would have found common ground in their children to talk but, the truth of the matter was that both parents were painfully shy.

Anthony had just settled by Zachariah to play when a dog barked nearby. That sent him fleeing up the nearby slide. He climbed the slide so fast that Zachariah wondered where he went. He saw that his new friend was scared so, he picked up a stick and brandished it like a sword. He shouted,

“Fear not, Red! Do not be afraid. I will protect you!” He stabbed the stick in mid-air and swished it around like it was a real sword. Zachariah climbed the slide only to find that Anthony was trembling. He thought quickly,

“Ahoy there, Red. This is our ship and I will defend it against any Kraken who has dared to trespass.”

Anthony looks up at Zachariah in amazement. The dog was forgotten as Anthony joined in with Zachariah in the pirate game. He soon has Anthony laughing and talking excitedly about the Kraken and how it was a great big bugger.

Nicknames are traded rather than their real names. Anthony gets called “Red” on account of his fiery hair and Zachariah is “Blue” as he has blue eyes.

All too soon, their parents call them to their sides. The boys wave shyly at each other as they leave the garden (Park). Little did they know that this would be the only time that their paths crossed for a long time.


	2. A little bit of history

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anthony has a heart-breaking past. Zachariah starts boarding school.

“Anthony! What have you done?” His mum’s voice reached where Tony was hiding, under the coats underneath the stirs. He was 9, a tall, lanky thing, he rubbed his hands over his face. The coats were lifted, a hand reached for him through the coats.

“Mum” he mumbled.

The hand grabbed onto his jumper and he was propelled forward to her. He saw his mum there, his eyes fell to her feet, where her socks were covered in flour. He gulped. He babbled,

“I’m sorry, mum. I was just reaching for the sugar to go in your tea, when I knocked the bag of flour out of the cupboard.”

His mum’s eyes softened, she sighed,

“I know sweetheart. I just wish that you would have asked for help, that’s all.”

His mum sighed again. Anthony had always been like this, full of good intentions, but things never quite working out in the way he wanted them to.

*********************************

Anthony’s dad had walked out on them three years ago when Anthony had turned 6. Anthony had been particularly hyper after his 6th birthday party. His mum had been trying to calm their son down, a warm bath followed by a warm, milky drink, but it wasn’t working.

Anthony’s dad had to be up really early the next morning for work. When he had been woken up by Anthony literally bouncing on their bed, something snapped. Peter Crowley flipped, he screamed at his wife Sarah, that he needed sleep, all the while chucking clothes in a bag haphazardly. 

Once the front door had slammed shut and the car had faded into the distance, Sarah slumped against the wall. She slipped down to the floor, sobbing.

An unruly mop of red hair appeared at the top of the stairs. Anthony crept down the stairs and sat next to his mum. As she pulled him into a hug, Anthony looked up, his golden eyes full of tears. His voice broke as he whispered,

“It’s my fault that dad has gone, isn’t it? If only I could behave *he began to thump his head* stupid brain!”

Sarah held his hands back gently, to stop him hurting himself. She gathered him even closer.

“No, Anthony. This is NOT your fault, not in any way, sweetheart, okay?”

Anthony looked at his mum with his honey gold eyes still wet from crying and slowly nodded.

Over the next few weeks, his dad came and removed all of his stuff from their life together and completely left the house, Sarah and their son Anthony. Anthony never saw him after that final time. Peter Crowley never even looked back at the sad little boy at the window as he pulled away from the house for the last time.

******************************************

In another part of London, a little boy of 8 years old was starting his first full term of attending a very prestigious boarding school that all of the Fell men had attended. He had been preparing for this all of his short life. Well, he hadn’t, but his father and his older brothers had been preparing him for the boarding school life.

Zachariah was the youngest of a very well to do family that consisted of his mother, father and four children including himself. His dad, well, he was known to Zachariah as father. His mum was mother, unless she was comforting him then she allowed him to call her mummy. For a short time at least until he was well or until his tears had dried.

His mother and father weren’t around for a lot of the time as they were Foreign Dignitaries working abroad for the better part of the year. This was why Zach and his siblings attended a boarding school. His sister went to an all-girls school nearby. But they were not permitted to meet with each other outside of school hours.


	3. School Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life goes on for our boys who are getting older.

Anthony’s schooling was quite different. He went to the local comprehensive. His teachers said that he was very bright but they wished that he would concentrate more. He was always full of energy and always talked back at people. His mum despaired as she was constantly on the phone or talking to the Head Teacher defending her son.

School was a very busy time for Anthony, he was the centre of attention most of the time because of his behaviour. His energy levels spiked during the time he was in school and the afternoons were so frenetic. He couldn’t sit still.

A new teaching assistant of Anthony’s class proposed an idea to his mum. Sarah thought it sounded good. So, along with the teaching assistant, Sarah went for a meeting with the Head Teacher. The idea was accepted and worked within the class’s afternoon structure. Anthony groaned when he heard this. He like classwork, he was good at it, but, more? No thanks. He was ready to completely zone out when he heard the words, “sessions outside.”

Anthony now spent some afternoons outside doing a focussed planned activity with the extra adult who was now assigned to him. Anthony had always loved being outside, whatever the weather. Sarah could attest to that fact, spending a great deal of her time just washing filthy, muddy clothes most of the time. 

They could be out for a walk on a lovely day, no rain or mud to be seen. But, as soon as they got home, Anthony would have mud somewhere on his clothes. Dirt was attracted to him like ducks were attracted to water.

********************************

Zachariah wasn’t having a good day. In fact, all of the days since he’d been at Boarding School were not good. Parker, the eldest Fell sibling had left the school. His brother, Ashley who was 13 had exams to be concentrating on. So, Zachariah felt more alone than ever. He was close to his sister Francis, but she was boarding at an all-girls school. It was nearby but the students were only allowed to mix once a month.

He flopped on his bed, face down. His room mate Bertram looked up from his desk,

“Heavy day, Fell?”

“You could say that, Bertie.”

Time passed as it was wont to do. Zach, his brothers and sister went home for Christmas. It was a Fell family tradition to have at least Christmas at home together. Wherever in the world they were, they all made a beeline for the homestead at Christmas. Zach’s older brother, Parker who was now in his early twenties brought his girlfriend, Lucinda home to meet the family.

In their house, tradition was everything. The boys got dressed up in their finest suits and Francis wore her finest dress. Their parents liked to host a lavish party every Christmas for “close” friends and family. Gabriel and Mary had close to a hundred people attending this year’s little soirée.


	4. Five years later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five long years pass in the world while Zachariah and Anthony get on in their own lives. The boys are now in their teens and are looking to their future. Christmas is celebrated in both households.

In Anthony’s house, it was just him and his mum Sarah. His grandparents lived in Scotland and were elderly now. So, they sent Sarah and Anthony carefully wrapped presents and a little money for Anthony. His mum earnt a decent wage as a librarian. She had trained for many years after his father had left them. She had worked her way up and was now second in charge at the city’s main library.

It was Tony’s 14th Christmas on this Earth and he woke up on Christmas Eve morning as he had done for over half of his life. To the smell of bacon and eggs being cooked downstairs, the smell drifting into his nostrils and causing his stomach to growl at him. Tony and his mum had their traditions too and a Christmas Eve morning fry up was just one of them.

Anthony slung his long legs over his bed and ran downstairs, hastily wrapping his dressing gown around him. He was 14 now, taller, and lankier than ever. His grandparents had sent a book for his present this year. Anthony and reading just did not get on. He had been diagnosed with an eye condition, a sensitivity to light. It was most probably passed down from his absent father’s side.

Anthony was also on the pathway with the school to be assessed for adhd. His primary school teacher had encouraged Sarah to go to their doctors to request an assessment. The main problem being the list for assessment was years long. Anthony had hoped the something would have been done by now, but no. His mum didn’t have enough money to pay for a private assessment so Anthony would just have to wait his turn.

***********************************

Similarly, it was another Christmas in the Fell household. Zachariah had survived 5 years at boarding school and was now 13. His brother Ashley, who was 5 years older, at 18 had brought his girlfriend Zara home. Parker, the eldest brother, at 26 had been married a while to Lucinda and they now had two daughters of their own.

But, still, the Fell family tradition fought hard to keep itself alive by their father insisting on the get together every year. Gabriel was getting older too, along with Mary. He had suffered bad health in the intervening years. The get together was only now for very close family, less than twenty people now. 

Zachariah still had a free pass to leave the room when the noise of the party got too much. He was in his room when there was a knock on the door. It was his sister, Francis, she was now 23. She came in looking nervous, fidgeting with her hands.

Zach took her hands in his to ground her. She looked up to him.

“He proposed! *she squealed* I’m going to be Luke’s wife!”

“Oh, congratulations! My dear sister, congratulations!” Francis threw herself into Zach’s arms for a hug before bounding out of the room, dragging a very bemused Zachariah with her. Zach followed his sister downstairs. As she neared the bottom, she cleared her throat. Everyone stopped chattering, turned and looked at her. She held out her hand to Luke and he stood by her side. She looked at him, then looked at her family and friends.

“I’d like to make an announcement. I’ve just accepted Luke’s proposal *a huge cheer* of marriage. So, this has turned into an engagement party now.” 

Luke reached into his pocket and brought out a beautiful engagement ring and slipped it onto Francis’ finger. Another cheer went up and then family and friends crowded round the happy couple hugging and shaking their hands. Zachariah watched from the bottom of the stairs. His sister looked up at him and smiled, he smiled back, feeling gladness in his heart for his sister. Although he felt a little sad, for himself, as he knew that kind of happiness wasn’t in his own future.

In the quietness of the late evening, the family gathered round and reflected on their fortunate relationships with each other. They truly felt blessed. Zachariah glanced at the Christmas tree, a flash of red and gold catching his eye. It was only a Christmas bauble spinning in the light but, it made him think back to red hair and golden eyes. He often wondered what “Red” was up to, whether he was okay and happy.

****************************************

Across the city, Anthony sneaked a peek into one of his softer looking presents. It felt squishy and when Anthony peeled back some tape, the paper parted slightly revealing the softest looking light blue woollen scarf, with almost white gold tassels. Hmmm. The colour reminded him of something, or someone. His mind drifted back 8 years to the only time his ‘dad’ had taken him to the Park. Blue eyes and a halo of white gold hair. His fierce protector, “Blue”.


	5. New beginnings at College

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anthony is in the second year of College, showing new students around the facilities, when he catches sight of a white blond halo of hair. It couldn't be, could it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There may be a delay with the next few chapters because I have get extraordinarily busy over the past few weeks. Chapter five is the last pre written chapter I have. When I do post it will always be a Monday. This fic does not currently have an ending, I know vaguely where I want the boys to end up. I don't know how many chapters it's going to take to get them there.

“But, mum, why do I even need to go to college?” Anthony was annoyed by his mum’s insistence. She had booked him into a local college to go to their Open Day. He was now 17 and bolshy as anything. He knew his own mind; he didn’t want to be stuck learning for the rest of his life! Anthony wanted to be out there, in the world, living life, not learning. His mum replied,

“Because, my dear son, I actually want you to make something of yourself. You’re bright, *Anthony rolled his eyes* at least look at the brochure. You never know there may be a course that you like the look of?”

“Pah! Or not.” Crowley grumbled. Sarah shooed him out of the kitchen. Well, he supposed he did make it through the nightmare of high school, scraping by with mostly good grades. 

That was a shock, to be fair. One of the teaching assistants (again!) noticed that Anthony needed more support in certain things and without fuss, the resources were there for him. He did surprisingly well with just those few tweaks in his school life. He worked through with a scribe, translating stuff from the whiteboard and books for him. His paper was an off white which helped with reading as the letters were still now and not jumping all over the pages. 

He remembered sitting in one breaktime in the school day, taking a ‘test’. A few other kids took the same test in the classroom alongside with him. He had no idea that he was taking part in a special educational needs test. All he knew was that assignments and homework were tweaked to the results of the ‘test’. He now had more time in tests, a coloured overlay to tone down the whiteness of the text books he had to read and every piece of paper he received, was an off white colour which didn’t let the letters jump around. 

The surprising thing to Sarah that she actually caught him reading one day. In all the years that he had been alive, Sarah had always read to him. She knew he could read but he was embarrassed as he liked to pretend that he was ‘too cool’ for reading. Even when he was younger, Anthony wouldn’t have been caught dead with a book in his hands. But, no, after the chat, he had got a few science type books out of the school library and was totally engrossed in them. She smiled to herself. Maybe the offspring of the library nerd was going to be ok.

Anthony came home after the Open Day and slumped down on the sofa. Sarah brought her tea and sat next to him. She nudged him gently with her shoulder causing him to look at her. 

“So?”

“They were ok, mum. But I don’t know. They don’t exactly run the course I want. I want to learn about the stars and planets, you know. All they do are general science courses.” He sighed.

She frowned, 

“But it’s only going to be a general science course, even at the A Level stage, love. The real difference comes at Degree Level as you understand what you want to study.”

Anthony gulped. She had a point. He already knew what he wanted to do and study. He guessed he had always known. There was something about studying astronomy. He had loved looking up into the night sky when he was younger. 

“Ok, mum, I know. I’ll give them a ring on Monday and sign up for the maths and general science courses.”

“That’s my boy.” She smiled and ruffled his mop of too red hair. He enrolled on the maths and science courses. He enjoyed them, he supposed.

*****************************************

One Zachariah Fell was looking through college prospectus’s, trying to make up his mind what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. Honestly, it was a bit overwhelming for the 16-year-old to blithely decide something of that magnitude. His mother and father tried to steer him right but, Zachariah already knew in his heart what he wanted to do. He had already seen the ideal place for his love of books, he just needed to work out how to get there. He had always had a love of books and language, had always received top grades in all of his English courses. It felt right to choose a college that had a brilliant English programme in place.

He picked up the prospectus to the College that Crowley was already attending. His eyes grew wide as he read the course description. He held the brochure aloft and shouted,

“I’ve found it! The place I want to go.”

Mary startled as Zach’s voice reached her. She hurried to her son’s side. He handed her the brochure and she gasped,

“This is perfect for you, darling. We’ll have to arrange a visit. Gabriel.”

She rushed off to find his father to tell him the news. He was working in his office from home, more and more these days. Zachariah closed his eyes. Step one accomplished, find a place to give him the qualifications to run a bookshop. Once he’d spoken to his father who was over the moon, he arranged a visit to the College for the next Open Day.

As Anthony had already been at the College for a year, he volunteered to show the new consort of potential students around the College. The parents and their young adults were shown into the College by the Head. She introduced the second-year students. As the students began to chat to one another, blue eyes tracked red hair across the room as they made their way over to another group of potential students. As Zachariah turned away to her what his mother was saying, golden eyes flashed over to glance at his white halo of blond hair. 

Crowley led the group of students who were interested in the science course off to show them the impressive laboratories that the College had on the campus. While Zachariah was led away by a tall, long haired teenager who introduced herself as Ana. She took their group to see the English facilities on the opposite side of the campus.

Zachariah looked at the receding figure of the tall, lanky red head and thought to himself,

“I know you. I don’t know where from, but I know you.”

Anthony had lost sight of the group led by Ana by now as the Science and English blocks were on opposite sides of the campus. He frowned. He was sure, no, wait. There was no way he could have noticed a white blond halo of hair. He was just imagining things.


	6. Something is Afoot?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony makes a new friend but he cannot forget about that white blond hair that is bewitching him. Zachariah doesn't know how to introduce himself so just spies on Tony.
> 
> What can I say? Welcome to Dumbasses - class 101

Zachariah started on an English language/literature course in the September of that year. The tall, long-haired teenage girl who had showed him around that day, Ana, became a trusted friend. 

He found it quite easy but some of the textbooks were long and dull. He had to frequent the library from time to time. It was early on a Tuesday morning when Zach saw him. Anthony was there, slouched over one of the chairs, chatting with his friend Newt as they looked over some magazines. 

Tony and Newt had become firm friends after Newt had thought he’d broken the science lab’s laptop. He had been panicking when Tony had pressed some keys and averted Armageddon, therefore saving the college’s network of laptops. 

Zach hid himself behind a bookshelf to watch Tony. Tony was startled by a quick movement and glanced up from where he had been looking. He caught a glimpse of white blond hair whipping out of sight behind a bookshelf. 

Ana turned to see Zach a bit breathless and sporting a faint pink blush to his face.

“What’s up with you?” Ana moved to look around the bookshelf herself when Zach reached out and grabbed her by the arm to pull her back. She raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, Ana, it’s him, I know it.”

“Who?”

“There was a boy when I was younger. He had hair like fire and eyes like the sun. We spent the day at the park together a long time ago. I’ve never forgot him.” He tailed into silence.

“Aw, you romantic fool.” 

“Ana!” Zach scolded. Zach hurried her along and out of the library.

At the nest of tables, Newt turned to Tony.

“Why are you smiling. I thought you hated maths homework?”

“Um, yeah,” Tony answered, distracted. “Excuse me for a minute.”

Tony untangled him from the chair he was currently slouched in. He got up, strode up to the shelf and peered round the corner. Of course, there was no-one there. “Blue” had obviously seen him and had ran off, not wanting to speak to “Red”. Tony dampened down his disappointment. He turned back round to Newt.

“He’s gone.”

“Who?”

“The boy I fell for when I was a kid. I never forgot him. Blue eyes like a summer’s day and hair like an Angel’s. I never thought that I’d get to see him again though.”

That evening Zachariah mentioned to his mum about the boy with the red hair.

“Oh, yes,” Mary recalled, “It may have only been one day Zachariah, but you talked about ‘your Red’ for ages afterwards." Zach blushed, again.

********************************

The next morning, Mary received an email from the college, enquiring to whether Zachariah had gone through any special educational need’s assessments. Zach’s main tutor had noticed that Zach was quieter than the average student and didn’t seem to have a wide group of friends around him.   
Mary spoke to Gabriel when Zach was at college that Wednesday. Gabriel had had his doubts about Zachariah and come to think about it, Francis as well, when they were both younger. He consented to Zachariah sitting the tests. 

There was talk when both Francis and Zach were younger about them both not being very social, not like the other Fell children. They were both very much happy in their own little world. The word autism had been mentioned but neither Mary nor Gabriel had thought much about it. Besides Zachariah and Francis had been educated in two of the top boarding schools in London. Surely, if something were amiss, the schooling system would have spotted it and would have let them, their parents, know? Wouldn’t they? Well, wouldn’t they??


	7. It's Christmastime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It may be Christmas again but that doesn't mean everyone is happy, does it?  
> Truths are revealed as our boys get older, Zachariah and Anthony learn to let go of the past a little.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is a day late. I've been busy working extra shifts as the world careens towards Christmas. Chapter eight is mostly written so no problems there.  
> I'm going to change the weekly posting day to a Sunday, just up until Christmas as that is one of my days off. I hope no-one minds getting updates a day early. Of course, that means you'll get chapter eight this Sunday so yay!!  
> Looking at around 14 chapters for this fic. I have another fic part written just waiting in the wings that I will probably start weekly postings of once this one is complete.  
> Thanks, as ever, for reading, also, kudos and comments make my day.

That Christmas was a bit different for each household. The families had all come together as usual but, as Sarah and Anthony were celebrating the festivities, the Fell household was in a more sombre mood.

Gabriel had taken a turn for the worse, health wise. He was no longer able to work. He was also unable to get upstairs anymore so a spare room downstairs was turned into a bedroom for him. The small room off the spare room was turned into a shower room with a toilet so it was a self-contained area for him to use. 

Zachariah was 17 now. He greeted his brothers and sister and their children as usual, but, this time, the hugs went on a little longer, the touch gratefully received and returned. There would be no lavish party for friends and colleagues this year. Only a private affair with the members of the immediate Fell family was planned. Even then, everyone was relatively quiet and locked within their own thoughts, save for the children. The children were excited as it was Christmas. But they sensed that Grandpa Gabriel was ill and toned their behaviour down.

After Christmas day, Gabriel seemed to be fighting more for breath. Zachariah sat by his father’s side, taking his turn to keep his father company. All of the siblings took turns to sit with him through his illness.

Gabriel woke with a start and saw his youngest son’s white blond hair and smiled. Even though Zachariah was their youngest, Gabriel had always been proud of his boy. It couldn’t have been easy for Zachariah, being left in a boarding school at the tender age of six.

He reached out for his son’s hand. Zach gently held onto his father’s hand.

“Hey, Zach,” 

Zach’s eyes widened; his father had never shortened his name before.

“Hi, father. How are you feeling now?”

“Oh, ok, I suppose. Do you know?” Gabriel stopped. Zach motioned his father to carry on speaking.

“I regret not being there for you in your younger life, Zach. I feel as though I missed a whole chunk of your childhood and your brothers and sister as well.”

Zach shook his head.

“Oh, no, fa….” He hesitated, looking into his father’s eyes. He gulped.

“Oh, no, dad. We knew that you and mothe… mum were doing good work.”

Gabriel’s smile was wide as he realised that he had been called dad.

“Well, it’s done now, son. There’s not a lot I can do now.” He squeezed his son’s hand. 

His smile turned into a smug smile of fondness. His eyebrows twitched.

“Well, now. Your moth…, mum tells me that you’ve come across someone from your past.”

Zach frowned and then blushed slightly.

“Well, maybe. Is that ok?”

“It’s your life son. As long as you are healthy and happy, I don’t mind who they are.”

Zach’s eyebrows moved skywards as the connotations of his dad’s words moved into his heart.

“Really, dad? You wouldn’t mind if I fell in love with someone of the male persuasion?”

Gabriel closed his eyes and took Zach’s hands in his own.

“Zachariah, as long as you’re happy and safe, that’s all I can ask of you son.”

“Dad, may I hug you?”

“Of course.” They shared a hug until Parker came in to sit with his dad while Zachariah slipped away to join the rest of the family.

*****************************************

Anthony’s Christmas was quiet with his mum. Only this year, Newt had been invited to spend time with them, for a day over the Christmas holidays.

Tony had woken up on Christmas morning to the smell of bacon and eggs. He chuckled to himself,

“Some things never change!” He slipped on his pyjamas and ran down the stairs to the kitchen. Sarah served up breakfast, watching as Tony sat down. How on Earth had he become so very tall?? After breakfast Tony jumped around like a little kid, all excited to open his presents. He needed to open his presents now, right now! His mum said,

“Anthony! Sit down and wait for your grandparents to call. You can open their present as you speak to them ok?!” 

He got another book this year too. But, this time, his grandparents had gone all out and bought him a heavy astronomy book listing most of the known stars and galaxies. He was momentarily silenced and then he thanked his grandparents in a quiet awed voice.

A few days after Christmas, Newt came round to spend a few hours with Tony. He had received a few records for Christmas, he had an old turntable of his mum’s. The boys were up in Anthony’s room playing Queen records with the volume cranked up. Sarah shouted up to Anthony. Anthony was talking to Newt, well, shouting would be more precise, so he didn’t hear Sarah, at first. He turned the music down slightly when his mum shouted up again. 

Anthony stormed down the stairs, shouting at his mum for shouting at him. Sarah turned to face him only for Anthony to slam his college books on the glass topped coffee table, to make a point. His eyes widened as the glass top shattered with the impact. He crumpled, as Newt came down the stairs. Tony shouted,

“I can’t do anything right! Why don’t you leave me, just like dad did?!” Then, in a tight whispered voice he sobbed,

“Please don’t leave me mum.” He slumped against the wall.

Newt gulped,

“Tea, Sarah?”

“Yes, please Newt. Thank you.”

Sarah sat beside Tony and gathered him up in her arms. She stroked his hair until Anthony’s sobs had subsided. Newt made a polite cough. Tony and Sarah both looked up to see Newt standing there awkwardly, holding two cups of tea.

Sarah pulled Anthony up to his feet after she had stood up. Newt patted Anthony’s shoulder, he gave his friend a small smile.

“I’m ok Newt, really.”

Newt left soon after, once he had checked that Anthony was okay. Sarah promised him that Anthony would text him the next day after he woke up. Newt bid her goodnight and waved from his mum’s car as she drove him home.


	8. Touched by an Angel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally, the moment that everyone has been waiting for! Zachariah gets introduced to Anthony. Can I hear a woohoo?  
> There's a miscommunication but, it will get resolved next chapter, promise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my God, people. Thank you so very much for all of your lovely comments and kudos. I didn't expect that more than a handful of people would read my fic but here you are.  
> I'm so glad that you are all enjoying my little story. I am on Twitter mostly (all of the time it seems, damn addictive stuff, that!) if you want to come and follow me and shout at me when this takes a dramatic swerve soon. I'm sorry, in advance! I've written the next chapter and I pretty much have the timeline of the plot in my head. There will probably end up being 14 chapters, all in all, perhaps with an epilogue as well.  
> Enjoy!!

Things were busy when Anthony and Zachariah started college again. Another meeting was scheduled to talk about the findings of all of the tests that they had taken. Initially, it was just the boys on their own but then the parents were brought in as well. The conclusions were that Anthony should be tested for adhd and Zachariah for autism. Letters were sent to the boy’s doctors, for referral to the relevant services. Even though Anthony had been on a list for assessment for adhd, he had dropped of the radar of the local service. It seemed that the paperwork had been lost, so, they had to start from the beginning.

Gabriel had felt a bit better over the New Year and had started to tentatively work again, albeit part time and from home. Mary was so worried and she hugged Zach a lot more during this time. Zachariah’s older brothers and sister popped by a lot more to support their mum and encourage their dad. 

Francis and Parker came by with their partners and children to cheer up Gabriel. Francis had 2 boys to offset Parker’s 3 girls. It was a noisy household when they all descended but Gabriel and Mary loved all of the noise and the hulabaloo. Ashley had brought his partner by as well, Jake was 24 and had his own daughter by a previous relationship. Ashley had come out as bisexual at 20 years old. It felt right to him. 

January passed in a blur without drama. Ana and Newt became a couple, much to their friend’s shock. Ana was with Zach when they met Newt with Crowley. Ana introduced them.

“So, Zach, this is my boyfriend *she blushed* Newt and his friend Anthony.” 

Zach looked at Anthony with a slight blush. This was his ‘Red’, he couldn’t fuck this up. 

“Nice to meet you Anthony.” Zach extended his hand forward, Anthony shook his hand. A bit of a formal greeting, but wait? There was a spark as their hands touched, Anthony drew his hand back quickly. 

“Yeah, nice to meet you, eh?” Anthony had forgotten his name almost instantly. One of those adhd moments.

“Zachariah.” Zach provided, helpfully. Anthony’s lip curled slightly.

“Oh yeah, sure, Zach.”

Zach bristled at the casual shortening of his name. (Even though Ana had introduced him as Zach.) Only close friends and family got to call him that. His brain supplied him with the thought that Anthony would become family one day. Not really helpful. Zachariah though chose to react to the situation by saying a curt goodbye to Ana and Newt and calling Anthony, “Tony”. He turned on his heel and strode away, bottom lip already wobbling.

Anthony looked at Ana incredulously, lip turned up in a smirk. 

“Well, that was a thing.” 

“He’s not usually like that.” Ana talked quickly, “It’s just that his dad is very ill at the moment. He’s not himself, at all.” She bit her lip. Ana hoped she could do some damage control. Zach really liked this lanky teen; he would be furious with himself over some poorly timed words.

“Oh, ok.” Anthony stayed silent while Newt and Ana talked quietly nearby. He piped up,

“Actually, I’m gonna head off now, you two. I’m glad you found your someone Newt.” 

“Eh, ok mate. See you soon.”

Crowley waved his hand dismissively. Ana and Newt watched him saunter away with his head hung down. 

“He’s a good sort, isn’t he?” Ana said.

“Yeah, he has a kind soul.” Newt agreed.

Zachariah threw himself onto his bed and began shouting into his pillow, muffling his cries. Mary cautiously knocked on his door.

“Zach, honey? Is everything ok?”

He raised his head, his cheeks were reddened and his eyes were puffy. Mary quickly crossed the room to sit next to her youngest son. 

“I’ve messed it all up mother. Oh, he hates me, I’m sure of it.” Big blue eyes stared up into his mother’s eyes. “Why am I like this?”

“Oh sweetheart, I’m sure you haven’t.” She ran her hand through his blond curls, fluffing them up. He tilted his head so that she could cup his cheek. Zach sniffed.

“What happened love?”

“Ana introduced us, and he called me Zach straight away! So, I walked away.” He sounded indignant. Mary chuckled.

“I know you don’t like your name shortened love, but that sounds like a bit of an overreaction, don’t you think?” 

Zachariah sat up and looked at his mum. He sighed.

“You’re right, I should apologise. It was just a shock to be called Zach straight away, by him, that’s all.” He smiled shyly. “His name is Anthony, by the way, my Red.”

His mum smiled. Zachariah smirked.

“I may have called him ‘Tony’ as I left though.” His mum giggled,

“That’s telling him, my lovely. Just enough of a bastard to be worth knowing, just like your father, I mean, your dad.”

Zachariah gasped. He didn’t think he had ever heard his mum using profanities in his life.

“Mother!” She raised an eyebrow.

“Well, it takes one to know one, love. Come down for dinner in a bit, yes?”

“Yes, thanks mum. I feel better now.”

Tony stomped upstairs at his house. He didn’t understand why Zach, sorry, Zachariah, had reacted like that when Ana had introduced him as Zach. He resolved to get to the bottom of the matter. He sighed,

“Oh, Blue, what did I do?”


	9. Meeting the Parents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally, the boys get to know each other as well as realising that they met in a Park when they were little. What can I say? I love our dumbasses!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! So I'm back with chapter 9 of our little story. They've finally met and are talking. That's good right?? 
> 
> I am so overwhelmed by your comments and kudosi (groups of kudos's, blame sarahmae!) I love that you love my little spin off alternate universe. Would anyone like to see this be made into a series, with little ficlets about their sheenanigans whilst growing up? I've had a few ideas already. As always, love to all and remember, you are so very much wanted, loved and cherished in this world of ours. xx

The weather was becoming warmer again. Tony and Zach saw each other occasionally now. The misunderstanding about the names had been cleared up. Tony hadn’t realised that Zachariah actually loved his name as he resented being called Anthony, it usually meant that he was in trouble with someone. When Zachariah found out about Tony’s preferences, he resolved to call Anthony Tony and to try to stop being so precious about his given name. 

The conversations were stilted, at first and took place in the company of Ana and Newt. Gradually, they began to meet without Ana and Newt, they began to “bump” into each other at College even though their departments were on opposite sides of the campus. 

Tony was walking home through the park when he spotted that all too familiar halo of white blond hair. Zach had spread a blanket on the ground and was studying. Tony sauntered over, dropped his lanky self onto the blanket,

“Hey, Zachariah, how’s you?” Zach looked over at the collection of bones taking up space on his tartan blanket and smiled.

“Oh, hey, Anthony. You know, you can call me Zach you know.” Tony raised an eyebrow. He was trying, he’d give him that.  
In that case, call me Tony.” He offered his hand to Zach for him to shake. Zach blushed slightly as he shook Tony’s hand. Ah, that familiar spark, they both felt it that time. Zach idly wondered what it would feel like to actually kiss those lips. The tops of his ears turned an even deeper shade of pink. Tony’s thoughts weren’t much better, he was thinking, ‘Fuck, he’s pretty when he’s blushing.’

Tony pulled out some of his own textbooks from his science classes. He had his final exams coming up in a couple of months so, unfortunately, he had to study. The supports that the college had put in place were helping, he could keep up with the workload ok. Zach looked over and asked some questions about the books. Tony passed them over for Zach to have a look in. Zach did the same with his English textbooks.

Tony read out some of the Shakespeare that he had found in he found in Zach’s books. He said,

“Ah, I still like the funny ones best.” Zach smiled.

The days were still short and so it got dark pretty early. The sun was just setting when the light caught Anthony’s long red hair, lighting the soft strands like it had caught aflame. Tony was talking,  
“Hey, we should get back, it’s getting a bit dark now.” He turned to glance at Zach. He was looking at Tony strangely. One word came out of his mouth, more of a confirmation than a question.

“Red?!” Tony gasped, as he said,

“Blue?!” Then together,

“It’s you! It’s really you?!”

Zach stepped closer and enveloped the other teenager into a crushing hug. He murmured,

“I found you, I can’t believe I found you.”

“Same, Blue, same.” 

Then, just as if a spell had been broken, they both started chatting about everything and anything. The tartan blanket was folded up, Tony teasing Zach about the fact that it was tartan.

“Tartan is stylish I’ll have you know.” It was said with a teasing glint in his eye. Tony grinned,

“Oh, I know Angel, I know. My grandparents are Scottish, they have their own tartan.” Tony squeaked as he realised that he had just called Zach, Angel. Tony took out his phone and called his mum, definitely not acknowledging the blush that was quickly overwhelming his face. Zach smiled shyly, as he looked at Tony, deciding that he really liked the nickname Angel and he definitely liked this lanky teenager more.

His mum said to have fun. They walked to Zach’s house. He paused outside of the back door. Zach said, as he placed his hand on the door handle,

“Um. I may have told my parents about you, so, be prepared for questions.” Tony raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything. He ushered Tony through the back door that led straight into the kitchen. His parents were in the breakfast nook, having a cup of tea.

Gabriel stood up and enveloped Zach in a hug. He was still pale and a bit wobbly but getting better every day. Mary came to stand by her son also. She held her hand out to Tony. 

“I can see why Zach was so set on calling you Red.” She chuckled. Zach cleared his throat.

“Ah, well, mum. Tony.” He glanced at Anthony, just to make sure that the name was ok to introduce him to his parents. Tony nodded. 

“This is my dad Gabriel and my mum Mary.” Tony shook both their hands when he was caught up in a hug from Mary. She said,

“It’s lovely to see you again and to know your name, at last, Red. Oh, sorry, I meant Tony.” There was a glint in Mary’s eye as she called him Red. Mary blushed at her little joke and Tony smiled, indulgently. 

Tony walked home after a lovely evening with Zach’s parents, he smiled to himself. Sarah was in the lounge when Tony walked through the door, whistling. She smiled,

“Did it go ok, love? Are his parents nice?”

“Oh mum, hi. Yeah, they are great.” He flopped himself beside her on the sofa.

Sarah smiled and squeezed his hand. Tony looked at his mum.

“I think I’m going to ask him out. I’ve never felt enough of a spark with anyone before meeting him. I mean, I’ve been in love with the idea of him since I was six. Can’t be that hard, huh?” 

They spent the rest of the evening chatting about life in general, Tony’s upcoming exams and future plans. Tony took himself off to bed soon enough and fell into a deep sleep. He dreamed of hair as soft as clouds and eyes as blue as a summer’s day. Nearby, Zach was dreaming of the way that the sunset caught Tony’s hair and of his citrine eyes, as yellow as the sun.


	10. A little bit of Joy...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Exams are completed along with diagnosis forms. Anthony gets some unexpected bonus news and he falls evermore in love with Zachariah.  
> Gabriel gets some pieces of news that he's been waiting for which unfortunately for Mary, includes a downside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I am completely blown away by the response to my little story. I was equally blown away to get an email inviting me to be included in a collection on A03 of human AU's. Oh. My. God!! 
> 
> When I first started posting this, I thought maybe it would get a few hits and some kudosi (my word for a group of kudos's) but I didn't expect it to be recommended by some really great A03 writers as well. I am so honoured to be included in this great Good Omens fandom. 
> 
> Tags have been updated, don't @ me please, the fic will get a bit rough for chapter 11 and 12 but then I promise that it will be ok. I've almost finished writing this fic at chapter 14. 
> 
> But, as you may have noticed this fic is now part 1 of a series called "Us and Them Makes Family" (another fantastic contribution by my great friend Sarahmae) There will be a back story on how the parents met plus a few one shots as the ideas come to me, on funny little stories that happen to our boys and their siblings while they grow up. 
> 
> So, as you can see, there's no way I am done with writing about Zachariah and Anthony yet. Thank Goodness! I was getting a bit tearful at the thought of leaving these two darling characters behind.
> 
> Without further ado, onto the story!!  
> (Merry Christmas!)

It was the beginning of June the very next week. The dreaded final exams were starting for Anthony soon. They were both still waiting on referrals to the services that they needed. But the support that the college had offered was already in place for Tony.

He and Zach were getting on great now, every day they managed to find time to spend together, just hanging out. Anthony had plucked up the courage to ask his Angel out, to his surprise Zach had said yes. There had been some hand holding, cuddles and kisses in the last few weeks.  
Of course, Ana had teased them mercilessly, revenge for his teasing of her and Newt back at the beginning of March. The next week came soon enough. Zach had his first-year exams to take as well as Tony taking his final science A level exams. 

Zachariah was now 19 and Anthony had turned 20 recently. Zach finished his last exam about an hour before Anthony. They had arranged to meet afterwards in the park. Anthony was just packing away his pencil case into his rucksack when he was approached by the Head of Science at the college, Mr Owens. He chatted to Tony for about 10 minutes and then Tony was running to the park to meet up with Zach.

Zach was sitting on their bench just by the sand pit where they had first met all those years ago. Zach’s head turned when he heard Tony’s shout of,

“Angel!”

Tony collapsed on the bench. Zach looked mildly concerned.

“You’ve been running dear.” He placed his hand on Tony’s forehead, Tony rolled his eyes.

“Well, that’s what tends to happen when you’re kept behind to be offered a job and you’re late to meet your boyfriend because of it.”

He grinned and stole a quick kiss from Zach’s lips.

“Wait, what?!” Anthony smiled and curled an arm around Zach’s shoulders.

“Yep, Mr Owens had a word after the exams. The college has enough money to pay for a lab technician. Before they opened up the job to potential outside applicants, he persuaded the college to allow him to ask him to ask me.”

“Oh, Tony! That’s great news.” Zach backtracked, looked into Tony’s golden eyes, and confirmed,

“It is good news, isn’t it?” Anthony smiled as he caught Zach’s hand and pressed a kiss to his knuckles. He chuckled,

“Yes, it is indeed good news and yes, I accepted.” 

Tony and Zach walked to Anthony’s house, holding hands. As soon as they walked in, there was a burst of applause. Both of their mouths dropped open.

“What’s all this? Mum, dad? What are you doing here?” Zach questioned. Anthony said,

“Yeah, mum, what gives? Oh, hi Newt and Ana?!”

Tony stared down his mum, Sarah reddened,

“Well, what matters now is that you two are here now. We can really let our hair down now.”

“Well, seeing as mostly everyone is here who I care about.” He looked at Zach, he blushed. Anthony held onto Zach’s hand as he cleared his throat and made an announcement.

“I was offered a job by the Science head at the college.” After a suitable amount of time had passed, all of the “oo’s” and “ah’s” had died down, Tony continued,

“And I’ve accepted!” A huge cheer erupted. He turned to his mum.

“I know we talked about me going to Uni next year mum, but I would really like to do this.” Sarah said, softly,

“Looks like you’ve already made up your mind, son.”

Tony’s eyes tracked the white blond halo of hair just across the other side of the room. Sarah slipped away to chat to Ana and Newt leaving Tony standing there. Gabriel and Mary walked up and they were soon chatting about Zach’s childhood. Tony gulped, he had to ask something of Gabriel but he didn’t know how. Mary touched Tony’s hand, startling him.

“The answer to your question is yes. We both *she looked at Gabriel who smiled and nodded* give you our blessing to ask for Zachariah’s hand in marriage.”

Tony’s eyes widened and then he smiled, the most beautiful smile that split his face like the sun was shining down on him. He shook Gabriel’s hand and hugged Mary. He whispered,

“Thank you for your blessing. It won’t be yet as we’re still getting to know one another.”

Gabriel nodded to Mary who took a ring off of her own finger. It was beautiful, it shone with citrine stones and diamonds. Tony looked at it, gobsmacked. Mary explained,

“This was my grandmother’s which was given to her from my grandfather when he proposed. They were married for 65 years. Take it as a good luck charm and Zachariah loves that ring also.”

Tony thanked here for the ring and stashed it in his room. Now he had to wait for the perfect moment.

A letter had been received for Anthony for their appointments to be assessed. Anthony took his mum along with him to speak about his childhood, how he was always full of energy and sass. The nurse also asked to see his school reports, she quickly realised that they all said the same thing, that he was easily distracted and couldn’t pay attention. The nurse praised the school for their intervention and their support, although it wasn’t until Anthony reached high school, that it really started to pay off.

Mary and Gabriel were in the house when the post arrived, Mary got the post. She was really hoping for a letter from the autism services as Sarah had said that Anthony had received his from the adhd services. But instead, she was a little disconcerted to see a letter addressed to Gabriel from their solicitors. She handed it across to Gabriel,

“Ah, I’ve been waiting for this.” Opening the letter, he explains.

“A while ago, well, about 15 years ago, I decided to use some of the wealth that we had and sank it into our children’s future. I saw the perfect buildings for all four of them and started proceedings to buy those properties for our children to have in the future. Three of the buildings were relatively easy but the fourth, Zachariah’s was long winded and difficult as it is a listed building in the heart of Soho.”

Mary gasped,

“Those flats and houses that the kids pointed out to you while we were on car trips. You bought them? Outright?”

“Yep. But Zach’s took a little, well, a lot more time to organise. It’s a listed building and I had to fight off real estate developers and that took time and money. But” he concluded, “it’s mine now. Well, Zachariah’s building now. But don’t tell them yet. I want to pick the perfect time.”

Mary came and hugged her husband. Gabriel whispered, hugging her tightly,

“Sweetheart, I spoke to the doctor about my recent test results. The news isn’t good. I’m sorry.”

Mary bit her lip and whispered back,

“How long?”

“Couple of months at most.” 

Zachariah got his letter soon after. It contained a number of questionnaires based on his abilities and how he reacted to things that happened in his life. He was uncertain as he completed them with the help of his mum. It was such a different process to what Anthony had just gone through, with seeing a nurse and just talking. But he presumed the conditions of adhd and autism were different, so they had different ways of diagnosing. It was so frustrating though. The questionnaires were completed and sent back though. Zach forgot all about them to be honest really.

Mary and Gabriel spoke quietly, in bed that night about the answers that Zachariah had circled in the multiple questionnaires. They had both been doing their own research about autism without alerting Zach to it. It seemed that they had both come to the same conclusion that Zach was autistic. Mary resolved to speak to Francis as she was referred at the same time as Zach. She may have had a similar set of questionnaires to fill in. Francis confirmed that she had filled in the same set of questionnaires and had sent them off, when she spoke to her the next day. It was just a waiting game now.

Life continued; the boys got their results in August. Anthony had started his new job, working in the holidays to get used to the equipment he would be responsible for maintaining. He and Zach continued to see each other and go out on dates to the restaurant and the movies. 

They spoke extensively about the letters and processes of their pathways to diagnoses. Anthony had been to two appointments now, the last one without his mum. The nurse had said that it was all but confirmed that he had adhd. She wanted his mum there for the next appointment as medication had been mentioned. Zach said,

“How would you feel about taking medication for your condition?” Tony thought about it and replied,

“I don’t view it as any different to taking vitamin tablets as they’re to help me. There may be side effects, the nurse said, but I think I would like to try medication. It may actually help my brain.” Zach teased,

“You have a brain?! That’s amazing that you’ve been hiding it all these years.” He stepped away quickly. Tony, just catching up to what Zach had replied, said,

“Oi! I’ll have you know that it was this very brain *he pointed to his head* that made the decision to ask you out, so be kind.” Zach giggled,

“Of course, my love.” Tony was kissed on his head. He grumbled,

“That’s better, show some proper respect.” Zachariah stepped close and whispered,

“I would love to show you just how much I respect your brain one day.” Tony shivered while Zach kissed him. 

It was nice, Zach thought, to have an older boyfriend who doted on him. It was too good to last though, during the final few weeks of September, Gabriel took a turn for the worse.


	11. ...Followed By a Whole Lot of Heartache

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short chapter confirming the inevitable, I'm afraid. Tony steps up to support Zachariah and they begin to take tentative steps towards their physical relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all had a peaceful Christmas (or holidays) and celebrated the new year in style.
> 
> Thank you for the love, comments and kudosi that you have shown me. I love that you all love Zachariah and Anthony as much as I do. Thank you to those who keep in near constant contact with me as I worry about my writing and worry that it's nowhere "good enough". I know, deep down, that it's ok. I have lots of strong support and encouragement from home even though they don't read my writing. But, the love and encouragement is constant from my family and the fandom family that I have found.  
> A short note about the rating. I am going to keep this rated Mature although Zach and Tony do become more physically intimate in later chapters. Nothing too detailed though.
> 
> Oh and another note. This fic is now finished!! It has 16 chapters plus an epilogue that I have yet to write. I have already jotted notes and paragraphs for the parent meet fic and the sequel fic. So, I am nowhere near finished with these adorable dorks. Hope you like the chapter and I'll be back next Sunday.

The families had thought the Gabriel was slowly getting better but, no. During the second week of the Autumn term of Zach’s second year, Gabriel passed away.

It was so sudden, even for Mary, who had known that Gabriel was more seriously ill than he showed the family. The whole Fell family was in shock. Zachariah kept up with his routine of going into College, his homework and seeing Tony. Mary watched him sitting at the dinner table one evening. She whispered,

“How can you carry on? Why is the death of your dad not affecting you?”

Zachariah turned to his mum, only then did Mary see his red raw eyes from crying. He sniffed,

“It’s the only thing I can do mum. I’ll break down if I admit to myself that he’s actually gone. He’s away on a foreign trip for an unknown amount of time. If I think about the truth, that he’s gone forever, then I won’t be of any use to you or Tony.”

She came over and hugged her youngest son. He was trembling, she pulled away and looked. Zach was crying, huge sobs wracking his body. Mary mumbled, into his hair,

“Oh, I’m so sorry, my sweetheart. You were trying to be so brave and so good for me. I never thought that your dad being gone would leave such a massive gap in our lives.”

Later on, when Zach had fallen asleep, in his own bed and not on the sofa like he had been doing just lately, Mary phoned Anthony. He had been in constant touch since he had heard the news from Zach. He had been so worried as Zach seemed to be unaffected, carrying on as normal. Tony was relieved that Zach was sleeping peacefully after his outburst.

It was the evening before the funeral. Zach had come round to Tony’s after college. Tony was on a half day that day and was waiting on his boyfriend to walk through his bedroom door. Zach paused by the kitchen to say hi to Sarah then he headed on up to Anthony’s room. Tony opened his door and enveloped Zach into his arms. Zach relaxed in his embrace. Tony whispered,

“Ok, love?” Zach pulled back to meet Tony’s eyes,

“Not really, Red.”

Tony led Zach, by his hand, to the small sofa situated in the corner of his room. Tony sat down and scooted back so that Zach could sit between his love’s long legs. They both leaned back while Zach played absently with Tony’s long hair. Tony had been growing it out for a while after Zach had shyly admitted that he liked to play with and plait his mum’s and sister’s long hair. It was a comfort thing for him. He tried to explain to Tony. Tony had shushed him and said,

“Hey, if you like long hair to play with, then I’ll grow it. It’s no big deal. I used to have long hair before high school.” 

Zach’s eyes lit up and glistened a little, he gave Tony a huge hug.

Tony murmured quietly,

“What’s wrong, my love? Are you nervous for tomorrow?” 

“Yes, no, oh, I don’t know.” Zach sighed, “I wish you could be there with me, but mum only wants family there.”

Tony tilted his head to Zach’s as he tilted Zach’s chin so they could lock eyes.

“Who said I wouldn’t be there, love? Your mum insisted that I’d be there for you.” Zach let out a sob.

“Oh, thank you, thank you, Red, my love.”

“Oh Blue, you know I’d move the world to be by your side, on our own side, forever.” 

He placed a gentle kiss onto Zach’s lips, Zach murmured and kissed Tony back with fervour. Zach licked Tony’s lips and Tony parted his lips to allow Zach entrance to his mouth. They kissed for a few minutes before Zach broke the kiss to turn around between Tony’s legs. Zach said,

“Oh, Tony you are so good to me and for me.” 

Tony chuckled, bringing Zach into a hug.

“Well, you are my man.” Zach snorted,

“’I’m your man’! Oh darling, I’m a teenager still, hardly a man.”

“Well, you’re all the man I’ll ever need, my sweet.”

Sarah knocked on the door,

“Hey, guys, it’s getting late. You’ve both got a big day tomorrow. Best you be getting home Zach.” He said,

“Thanks Sarah.” He looked down; she noticed the hesitation in wanting to leave. She offered,

“I can give you a lift back if you’d like, Zach. It’s no trouble.” 

Zach smiled; Sarah always knew what he was thinking. 

“Oh, yes please Sarah. That would be tickety boo.” Tony rolled his eyes at his mum at Zach’s expression.

Zach turned to Tony and held both of his hands. He gulped.

“Well, see you tomorrow then.”

Tony brought both hands up to his lips and kissed them both, one after the other.

“Of course, I’ll be there, sweetheart. Bye for now.”

“Bye, dear heart.” Zach left with Sarah to be dropped back home.


	12. The Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day of the funeral arrives. Tony is an ever welcome presence by Zach's side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short but important chapter moving the story on. I am overwhelmed by the support and comments over the last chapter. It will be sad for a time but the boys move on. There will be mature themes coming up in later chapters. I have toyed with the idea of having a separate chapter for that but to be quite honest, I have no clue how to create separate optional chapters within a chaptered fic. If any of my readers do know how to do that, please can you get in touch. I'm Darknessandfyre on twitter.   
> I have started gathering and writing ideas for the parent meet fic and the sequel to this fic too. There will be a lull in posting after the epilogue to this one is up. I have another chaptered fic I want to finish so do look out for that one.  
> As always kudos and comments make me smile.

It was a very subdued morning in the Fell household. The cars were booked for 10am, the funeral due to take place at 11am.

Sarah dropped Tony off at half 8. Zach opened the door and Tony hugged him. He was introduced to Zach’s brothers and sister. The grandchildren were being looked after by friends of the family, in another part of the house.

They withdrew to Zach’s room for Zach to finish getting dressed in his formal black suit. He had selected a thin black tie to wear but Anthony selected his favourite tartan bowtie for Zach to wear. It was Gabriel’s request for the children to wear a splash of colour but Zach had forgotten this. Tony gently reminded him, Zach smiled as he handed the bowtie back to Tony for him to tie.

Anthony’s hands trembled as he tied his boyfriend’s bowtie around his collar. As Tony finished, he started to withdraw his hands away from Zach, Zach captured his hands and kissed them. He looked up into amber eyes.

“Thank you, Red, for being here with me on this awful day.”

“S,alright Angel, it’s my honour to support you.”

Parker shouted up the stairs,

“Zach, Tony, it’s time to get ready to go.”

They walked downstairs; fingers interlaced. Zach put his shiny black shoes on. As an afterthought, Anthony tucked a tartan handkerchief into Zach’s top pocket. He smiled at his love. Zach wondered how he had got so lucky. Tony was thinking the same.

The family filed out of the house and into the cars, quietly. At the church, the vicar said kind words about his father and the impact he had had on their lives. At least he hoped the words said were kind, Zach couldn’t really remember much about the service. His mind was entirely focussed on the feel on Anthony’s fingers interlaced with his own. He found that he had to focus on something otherwise he would be totally lost.

Afterwards, there was a short interlude where friends gave their condolences. Some of his parent’s friends from Gabriel’s old workplace came and shook their hands, muttering words of comfort. Some of the older ones frowned at Zachariah holding Anthony’s hand and Ashley clinging onto Jake. They paid no attention to those people, both Anthony and Jake glared, fiercely protective of their partners.

Zach stood by the graveside with his head bowed, his eyes streaming with tears. He didn’t even try to stem the flow. Tony stood beside his love, gripping his hand tightly, supporting him. 

When they got home, Zach made his excuses and trailed upstairs, tired beyond belief. Tony went into their kitchen and made Zach a hot cup of tea. He popped into the lounge to say goodnight to Mary and the others. Mary swept him up in a giant hug. 

“Thank you, Tony. For being here for Zachariah. He loves you so much.”

She looked into his eyes and continued,

“He’s always loved you and I’m so glad he has you now. You are part of our family now, Tony, whether you like it or not.” She chuckled. Tony replied,

“I have loved him as well, ever since that very first time in the park. I’m so glad we met again. Thank you for making me feel part of the family.”

He took the hot tea and slipped upstairs to Zach’s room. He knocked on his door. A tired voice said,

“Yes?”

“It’s only me. I brought you a hot cup of soothing tea. Can I come in?”

“Oh, yes, of course Red.”

Tony opened the door to see Zach looking absolutely adorable in tartan fleece pyjamas. He already looked half asleep as he dragged a hand through his curls.

Tony brought his tea to him, Zach took the cup, taking a sip. His eyes closed in pure pleasure as it soothed his sore throat brought on by all of the crying he had been doing that day. Zach put the half empty cup on his bedside table. He patted the soft bed beside him. Tony sat down and Zach enveloped him in a soft hug. He yawned.

“Thank you for today, dear. Will you be coming to the Will reading next week?”

“Yep, your mum said it would be okay.”

They hugged for a moment longer and then Tony kissed his forehead, he stood up. 

“I’ll see you at college on Monday then?” Zach’s eyes dropped.

“Oh, are we not meeting tomorrow?” Tony chuckled,

“It is Monday tomorrow, Angel.”

“Oh yes, of course. You’re right. Well, let’s see. I am rather worn out from today.”

“Alright, my love, my Angel. Goodnight.”

They kissed softly before Zach turned and closed the door. Tony walked downstairs and hugged Mary again before leaving the family to their own devices. Sarah was already waiting outside to take him home.


	13. The Will: Moving On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Introducing one of the most important characters of this entire series, the Bookshop. This chapter's main focus is on the will and how the family reacts to Gabriel having been sneaky for the good portion of his life. Even Mary is surprised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, just a heads up for this chapter, things begin to get heated between our boys. There will be sex in later chapters too. My original thought was just to remove those bits and put them in their own chapter, but, there's literally about 3 paragraphs. So I'll put the mature bits in between lines so you know to scroll on by if that's not your thing.
> 
> Both the prequel and the sequel will probably have a fair bit of intimacy too. 
> 
> (Also, just want to thank my readers of this series as you lot keep me going and, more importantly, you have revived the faith in my own writing. I love you all.)

That week passed in a blur for Zach. He continued to meet Tony in the afternoons. The Will reading was set for Friday afternoon. However, Mary phoned Tony on Wednesday afternoon, requesting that he meet with her and Zach outside an old Bookshop on Friday morning. Tony agreed, he couldn’t help but be curious.

Friday morning arrived and they met outside the shop in Soho. Zachariah recognised the Bookshop as one his father used to take him when he was younger. His mum smiled at the youngsters as they pushed open the doors of the shop. The owner was behind the counter. He recognised Zach’s mum, but Zach couldn’t work out why. The Bookshop was his and his father’s treat, they never came here with his mum.

Zach frowned when the owner came out from behind the counter and addressed him by his name.

“Ah, Zachariah, so good to see you again.” He looked Tony up and down,

“And to meet your young man.” Tony said,

“Tony’s the name.”

The owner guided Zach’s mum into the back room where they sat and chatted. Zach looked perplexed as he looked at Tony.

“I didn’t even know that mum knew about this place as dad always brought me along on his own.” Tony kissed his knuckles.

“Well, we may as well make the most of your mum being distracted.”

Zach chuckled a throaty chuckle and allowed himself to be dragged behind some tall bookcases. Tony pinned Zach to the bookcase, slid his knee in between Zach’s and leaned in real close. He breathed,

“Oh, Zach, the things you do to me.”

Zach squeaked when he was pushed against the shelves and thoroughly kissed soundly. Zach had just started to run his fingers through Tony’s long, silken red hair, mussing it up. There was a polite cough, they jumped apart as if electrified.

“Ahem,” Mary turned to the Bookshop owner.

“Yes, well,” she said, eyeing the two now thoroughly ruffled young men. “We’ll be in contact soon.”

The Bookstore owner smiled and said,

“Yes, of course, my dear.”

“Come on, let’s get you two to the Will reading without further incident.”

Zach and Tony turned and walked towards the door, feeling thoroughly chastised. Mary didn’t miss that they were holding onto each other’s hands as tightly as they could as they walked.

They arrived at the solicitor’s office and greeted Parker with Lucinda, Frances with Luke, and Ashley with Jake. Hugs were given and then the solicitor called them all into his office. The solicitor went through the formalities of the Will first.

Tony’s mind drifted off for a bit. The main part was that Gabriel had left the house and all of the accounts in Mary’s sole name. The children were named: Parker was left a house along with £100,000, as was Frances and Ashley. However, what truly shocked everyone including Tony, was when the solicitor said just what Zachariah had been left.

Tony thought back on that morning where Mary had insisted that they meet at. At the Bookshop, Zach’s Bookshop? He started to listen closely to what the solicitor said. Not only had Zach been left the Bookshop but a £100,000 to do with what he wished. Zach squeezed Tony’s hand, he looked at Zach. Tony said,

“Hey, can we get a chair?” The secretary got Zach a chair in which he slumped in. Mary came over to her youngest son and crouched down.

“Are you ok Zach? I know it’s been a bit of a shock but are you ok?”

Zach looked up at his mum, tears were starting to run freely down his cheeks. Almost in a whisper, he said,

“Dad remembered.”

Tony knelt on the other side of Zach’s chair. He said, gently,  
“Remembered what, my love?”

“All the times that dad took me to the Bookshop. I always said that I would love to run a Bookshop like that very one just before we left each time.” He sniffed,

“But, what about the owner?” Mary smiled,

“Oh, sweetheart, he’s not the owner anymore. He was just there to let us in and finalise the sale.”

“I did notice that there were quite a lot of moving boxes around.” 

Parker chuckled, looking up,

“Still surprising us, hey dad.” There was a collective laugh, and the spell was broken. The siblings all started talking. They were brought back in line by the solicitor.

The secretary brought in more chairs so that all of them could have a seat.

“Wait, there’s more.” He shuffled the pages and underneath there was a sheet of paper that even Mary hadn’t seen, when discussing the Will with him. They all took their places again. Tony and Zach stayed where they were.

“It seems to be a list of extra items to be bestowed to individuals named.” He cleared his throat.

“To Zachariah, I leave my great grandfather’s pocket watch as you loved to play with it when you were younger.” Zach was passed the pocket watch from a box the secretary was holding.

“To Ashley, I leave my collection of cufflinks. You and Jake will look cool and be the smartest men out there.” Ashley rolled his eyes and gave Jake’s hand a squeeze.

“To Frances, my one and only daughter, I leave my grandmother’s necklace and ear-rings. She loved them as I love you.” Frances sniffled.

“And to Parker, my eldest boy, I leave my Porsche, my pride and joy. Don’t drive it too fast and don’t scratch it.” Parker gasped.

“And to my wife Mary.” Mary’s head snapped up. She really wasn’t expecting anything else as she had the house and access to all of their accounts. What else could there be?

The solicitor fixed her with a look and continued,

“To my devoted wife and best friend Mary. Ever since we met at High School, in the Nativity play, I have loved you. Remember that first holiday we took together to Italy? Well, I’ve bought a family home out there for you and the kids to visit whenever you want to, babe.”

Mary sat back down. There was silence then Lucinda said,

“This is incredible.”

They all started chatting at once. As they started to leave, the solicitor said,

“Well, it’s certainly been lively.” Mary replied,

“Oh, you should have been around when Gabe was well. He was quite the joker underneath the seriousness. It’s been such a surprise for us all.”

They shook hands and Mary left, trailing after her children, all eight of them. Tony was family now; he had been ever since Zach had brought him home. Even though Tony hadn’t asked Zach yet. But Mary had plans for that.


	14. The Bookshop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zach moves into the Bookshop. A question is asked and answered. Zach and Tony discover that they have more in common in their childhood than they first thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning-things get hot and steamy towards the end of this chapter. It is separate by way of a line of forward slashes, the text straight after this line “He was always warmer in Zach’s full circle of protection.” The story continues after the next line of forward slashes starting with “After the shower, Zach left Tony while he padded out of their room, making a few bits for breakfast.”
> 
> Ok, so, we're nearing the end. Two more chapters and then the epilogue. Chapter 16 will have a smattering of smut in it. I will do as I have done in this one, put it in between breaker lines. It's literally a couple of sentences so nowhere near enough to justify it's own chapter. The sequel and prequel will have the same format.

The weeks passed quickly. Zach settled into the routine of College and going to the Bookshop every day. 

The previous occupant had moved out, leaving the space for Zach and Tony. He was still living at home with his mum for now, but Tony had definite plans to be in the Bookshop, in time for Christmas with his financè. He had been in near constant touch with Mary, discussing plans of the proposal.

However, Mary was being a double agent of sorts. She knew that Zach was planning to ask Tony to marry him. This was the reason why she was urging Tony to ask Zach before Christmas. Tony was curious as to why she was pushing him hard to ask Zach, but all Mary would admit to was that she wanted to formally welcome Tony to the family at Christmas.

It was in the second week of December that Tony gathered his courage to ask Zach. It was the night after they had moved in together, into the little flat above the Bookshop. They had just finished decorating the flat and were downstairs putting the last few touches on the tree.

Tony was passing up ornaments for the tree to Zach. Zach was passed up what he thought was the last decoration, but it was a ring box shaped like a bauble. Tony took Zachariah’s hand to help him down from the ladder, then he got down on one knee.

“Zachariah, my love, my heart. My one true soulmate.” Zach sat down in the comfy old armchair; his eyes widened as he clasped the box. Tony’s hands wrapped around Zach’s. Inside was a ring with a citrine and diamond setting. Zach recognised the ring; it was his grandmother’s. The very ring that his grandfather had proposed with. He was going to have words with his sneaky mother! He looked up at Tony.

“Well, I love you Zach, I will always want to be with you. On our own side, forever. Will you do me the greatest honour of becoming my husband?”

Tony’s field of vision was suddenly obscured by a head full of blond curls. Zach shouted “Yes!”, He knocked Tony to the ground and covered him with kisses. Tony sat up laughing and then proceeded to place the ring on Zach’s ring finger.

“Oh, it’s just perfect.” His face grew suspicious. “Have you been talking to mum? How did you get this ring? My mum has had it in her jewellery box ever since dad inherited it. It was the ring he used to propose to mum.”

Tony gulped. He admitted, “Maybe. Why?” Zach’s eyes narrowed,

“Well, that’s my plan ruined.” He reached into his pocket and brought out a silver ring that had a topaz embedded into it. “I had it especially made for you.”

Tony’s eyes grew larger and a tear fell from his eye.

“It’s gorgeous,” Tony breathed as Zach slid the silver ring onto his love’s finger, “Just like you.” They kissed. 

The next morning, Anthony snuggled into Zachariah’s chest in their bed,

“Mmmm… you’re so warm, sweetheart.”

Zach chuckled a rumbling chuckle and ran his hands through Tony’s hair. Tony captured Zach’s left hand in his and stretched his arm out to admire both of their rings. The blue and yellow stones complimented each other. Tony coughed.

“Um, you can say no if you want to, my heart but, I have an idea on how to cheer everyone up this Christmas.” He got out of bed, dashed over to their shared wardrobe, retrieving a suit bag, before dashing back to get under the covers once more. 

“This is just an idea and you can say forget it, but..” Tony reached into the suit bag and pulled out a gaudy suit, bright baubles glistening on a background of bright red.

Zach leapt out of bed, scrambled over to the wardrobe, diving into the bottom drawer. Tony had never seen Zach move so fast. He pulled out an album of photos. He came to sit on the bed, letting Tony look through the album.

The photos were of Zach as a child. One, which was particularly adorable, it was of Zach in his Christmas onesie when he was about 2 years old. There were photos of him throughout the years. Tony smiled.

“It looks like our parents were on the same wavelength, my heart.” He reached underneath his side of the bed and brought out a small photo album. He passed it over to Zach who started flicking through the photos of his love. It was indeed similar only Tony had a few more photos of his ‘Christmas suits’. They were bright, garish, and utterly perfect for their new tradition for the family. Zach stopped and stared at one particular photo.

Tony had stopped and was looking at the onesie that had the white applique wings on it.

“Hold on,” He took his own album from Zach and flicked through it until he found the photo of him wearing pyjamas with black applique wings on them. Zach giggled,

“Well, would you look at that?! Seems that we were fated to be, my love. Together, on our own side.” The morning dissolved into slow caresses and shared kisses.

Zach went back to college for the last few days of term the next day. Anathema pounced straight on the ring as soon as Zach walked into their classroom. 

“Well, someone had a great weekend!” She held up Zach’s left hand, the stones caught in the sunlight.

“Ana, please!” Zach flushed bright red. “I will tell you all about it later if you let it go now.” Ana laughed,

“Ok, Tony’s man. But we are going to spend lunch together.”

Zach nodded then sat down, getting his books out that he needed for the lesson. He had 6 months left of college before Zach would be free to open the Bookshop properly. He had already signed up to do an evening class in business skills over the summer months. 

Tony was still working as a lab technician and had started taking driving lessons in the last few months. Newt had been hired as a general assistant for Crowley. So, they were working together now. Tony’s ring hadn’t gone unnoticed either. Newt had texted Ana. ‘Did you see? Zach too?’ Ana laughed and she texted back, ‘Of course and yes, Zach too.’ 

At lunchtime Zach and Tony sat together discussing their wedding plans. Tony spotted a swish of a long skirt in his peripheral vision and nudged Zach.

“Heads up, Angel.” Zach glanced up to see Ana and Newt approaching their table. Zach smiled and squeezed Tony’s hand. Ana sat down.

“So, anything good happen over the weekend?” She smirked.

“You tease, Ana. You know full well what happened. Tony asked me to marry him and I said yes.” He showed Ana his left hand along with Tony. She held both of their hands and ‘arred’ over them both. Zach said,

“But, let this be known. I was going to ask Tony myself, but mum kept delaying me, she turned double agent on her own son.” Ana laughed.

“Way to go mum!!”

The rest of the week passed relatively quickly and then the Autumn term was over. Zach and Tony were due up at the family home to celebrate Christmas in a few days. They had woken up together, having fallen asleep in each other’s arms. Tony nudged his love’s arms in order to be enveloped in his arms. He was always warmer in Zach’s full circle of protection.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Tony kissed Zach slowly and reverently. He slid his body to align himself with Zach. He reached for the lube and a condom in the side cabinet. As Zach reached up to caress Tony’s face, Tony slipped a condom onto his cock and slicked up his fingers. He gently prepared Zach and then took his hand away. Zach moaned at the loss of his fingers. 

Tony’s glanced up at Zach’s face, he nodded his consent and Tony pushed slowly into his financè’s hot centre. Tony went slowly and caressed his lover’s cock, gradually quickening his pace to match the pace of his hips. Tony’s hips stuttered as he came inside his love, Zach came soon after, covering his and Tony’s stomachs with his seed. They held each other until it became uncomfortable. They got up and shared a shower.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

After the shower, Zach left Tony while he padded out of their room, making a few bits for breakfast. He called Tony softly as they didn’t eat breakfast in bed, neither of them did. They had tried once but they had got bothered by the thought of crumbs in their bed. 

Tony came sauntering out, he had put his Christmas pyjamas on. Zach went and changed into his Christmas pyjamas too. They enjoyed their breakfast together and then got dressed. Zach went downstairs to sort out the presents they were going to take with them to the family home. 

The post rattled through the letter box. He shouted to Tony, they both had letters from the services. Tony had received his first medication appointment for the New Year and Zach had received another appointment for another talking session.


	15. The Wedding and .....The Bentley??

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Think the chapter title says it all really. After all, Zach has his bookshop, Tony needs his Bentley too!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, if you've read this far, thank you so much for joining me on this journey. What a journey it's been!! This is by far the longest fic I have ever written.  
> I hope that it hasn't been too angsty, I don't write angst well, that's why I've tried to keep the tone of this fic light hearted and cute.
> 
> Immense thanks goes to the group of cheerleading fellow fic writers and readers on twitter. Thank you for letting me ramble on!! I adore you all.
> 
> There's only chapter 16 and then the epilogue to be posted, ending this fic on the 14th February, Valentine's Day! I swear this was not plotted out to coincide with that date. It's just a happy coincidence.

Christmas was on a weekend that year. Anthony and Zachariah were picked up by Sarah and driven to the Fell household. They were all dressed in their Christmas finery. Anthony had explained honouring Gabriel with his idea of everyone wearing bright suits or dresses made of Christmas themed material. Even the girls and women of the family, including Sarah, had taken the idea on board.

Sarah was in a full A line dress, white with green glittered Christmas trees. Anthony and Zachariah had their custom-made suits on. Zach was in a white suit with appliqué Angel wings on the back, just like his babygro all those years ago. Anthony was in a black suit with appliqué demon wings on his back, just like his pyjamas all those years ago. Zach wore a gold bow tie to compliment Tony’s eyes while Tony wore a blue tie to compliment Zach’s eyes. 

Mary greeted them all with a smile and a hug each.

“Welcome, welcome.”

They settled into the house, taking their bags to Zach’s old room where they would be staying while they were there. Later the family, all of them, all four children, their partners, their children plus Sarah, gathered in the lounge.

“Well,” Mary said, “I’m sure most of you have heard the news by now.” 

There was a smattering of talking and pointed looks at Tony and Zach. Zach cleared his throat. 

“Yes, well. Tony asked me to marry him and I said yes.” A huge deafening roar went up and the children piled excitedly onto the startled men. Once they had picked themselves off of the floor, Tony chuckled,

“Well, that was some welcome! We were thinking of an August wedding.” Mary said,

“That would be lovely. Gabriel loved you both and wanted you to be happy.”

Parker came in with a bottle of champagne, Mary raised an eyebrow as it was still early. Parker ignored his mother’s stare and popped the cork. Ashley brought the glasses and handed them round. He said, handing a glass to Tony,

“Welcome brother.” Tony hugged him as he was passed a glass. Mary said,

“To Tony and Sarah, welcome to the Fell’s!” Zach stole a kiss. He was so happy. Tony slid his hand into Zach’s and murmured, 

“Happy, love?” Zach beamed. “Now I am.” He stole another kiss from his fiancé.

Christmas was spent in a whirl of happiness and love for both of them. But, as is inevitable, it was soon back to work and college for both of them. 

Zach was walking back to the bookshop after college in January, when a used car dealership caught his eye. It had just opened but that’s not what caught Zach’s eye. Out on the forecourt, looking worse for wear was a 1926 Bentley. Anthony had mentioned a love of classic cars in passing one day, saying that his dad used to take him to the local classic car shows, before his dad had abruptly left him at the age of 6.

Zach knew that he had a bit of time before Tony would be home. He always worked late on a Monday. Zach went into the dealership and enquired about the Bentley. The manager said that the Bentley needed a lot of expensive work on it to make it even just driveable. He wrote a figure on a business card and passed it to Zach. It was a large amount but as the idea of gifting the Bentley to Anthony as a wedding present struck, he took the card; smiled and held his hand out to the manager. The manager looked shocked and managed to stutter out,

“Eh, are you sure?! Mr …?”  
“Yes, I am totally sure. My name is Zachariah Fell.”

The man smiled and relaxed as he recognised the name. Gabriel’s obituary had been published in the paper recently and he knew he had been a foreign dignitary. 

“Of course. I will make sure I will get all of the paperwork together for you, Mr Fell. It will take a while to complete the work though. The parts need to be ordered and then fitted.” Zach replied,

“As long as it is ready for August for when my fiancé to drive us after we get married, that shouldn’t be a problem.” The manager smiled,

“No, we’ll finish before August, don’t you worry.”

“You have my promise that everything will be paid for as and when you need it. You can get in touch with our solicitor to finalise the details.”

Zach passed over the family’s solicitor’s card. They said goodbye. Zach then phoned the solicitor to make him aware of the car and all of the details. He also told him to keep it quiet and to only talk to Zach or the car dealership manager about the car. The solicitor agreed. Zach arrived home twenty minutes before Tony. 

In April, Anthony had his medication appointment on the same day as Zachariah received his autistic diagnosis. Zach got more support and help in the college to get him through the final months before his final exams. Unknown to Zach, Tony was also researching things. He knew that Zach loved kids as much as he did. He had asked his mum to see if she could find out more as she worked in the library.

Tony was getting along a lot better at work due to the medication. He had coped, just, before, but the medication seemed to make him more attentive to whatever he was doing. Zach appreciated it too.

Tony passed his driving test in May, Zach was thrilled. His plan was coming along nicely, and Tony didn’t suspect a thing. Tony had seen the Bentley out in the car dealership forecourt back in January. He was going to go and have a closer look at the Bentley but, on the evening that he was late home, it was gone. He was disappointed but, he guessed that was the way life went sometimes. It didn’t matter, he convinced himself, he had a beautiful man in his life and the shared a gorgeous old Bookshop, it didn’t matter.

The car repairs went well, with no massive hidden charges on the parts. The solicitor and the dealership manager kept Zach in the loop with the Bentley.

July soon rolled around; the weather was warm when Zach took his final exams. He would get his results after the wedding. He was nervous about the wedding. Tony tried to allay his fears for the day itself by taking Zach apart as much as he was able. Zach always appreciated the effort that Tony put into taking his fears away. 

The Bentley was fixed and gleaming the week before the wedding. Zach hid it in an old garage behind the family house before it’s unveiling. The morning arrived and the Fell family gathered, all ready to go to the church. Sarah and Tony arrived in her car. The Bentley had been brought out and the family had gathered around it, shielding it from curious eyes. 

Zach opened the car door and took Tony’s hand to help him out of his mum’s car. The family were gathered in front of the car until Zach had told Tony. Tony was confused, why was Zach leading him round this way? 

Zach untucked his tartan (of course, it’s stylish!) handkerchief from his top pocket and Tony allowed Zach to tie the silk around his eyes. He gently led Tony to just in front of their family. The family quietly parted and Zach placed Tony’s hand onto the Bentley’s car door handle. 

Zach took the silk handkerchief off and looked on as Tony’s eyes filled with tears. He gasped as Zach dangled the keys to the Bentley in front of his face. Zach was not ready for the bone crushing hug that Tony gave him. Zach’s eyes filled with tears too. The family gathered around them to congratulate them on the car. Mary and Sarah hugged the boys and Parker cleared his throat,

“Well, as lovely as this is, we have a wedding to get to.”

The family chattered as the boys got into the car and drove off to be joined in matrimony together. The family followed on afterwards in a variety of cars. The wedding itself was absolutely stunning. They were married in the grounds of a local hotel.


	16. The Ritz and the Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two surprises for the happy couple.
> 
> There is sexual content in this chapter too. It is one paragraph buffered by two lines of this //////////////////

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We've made it!! This is the last chapter for this fic, although there will be a short epilogue leading into the next fic, which I still need to write. There will be a delay until I have written at least a few chapters of the sequel "You, Me and Three Makes Five."
> 
> I want to express my deep appreciation of my readers especially those who have made yourselves known to me over on twitter or facebook. Just know that I love you all and thank you so much for all the love that you show in all of the comments and kudos that you throw in my direction.

It turned out that Anthony had one last surprise for Zachariah on their wedding night. Zach thought that they would be staying at the Hotel where the wedding had been performed. After all the rest of the family had already booked in. 

At the end of the evening, Tony stood up. The music was quietened, and he spoke.   
“On behalf of my new husband Zachariah and I,” He had to stop there as a huge cheer went up. Their friends and family were mostly sloshed but as everyone was staying at the hotel, no one cared much. He held Zach’s hand and kissed it. Zach continued,

“Thank you for everything, for today and for all of your unwavering support when my dad passed away.” He glanced at Mary, 

“Dad would have loved all of this.” Mary nodded and raised her glass. Parker said,

“To the Fell-Crowley’s!!” Everyone raised their glasses. As the noise died down, Tony said,

“So, without further ado, I’m going to steal my husband away for our honeymoon.” Zach looked confused,

“Honeymoon? Wait, what?” Mary spoke,

“It’s all been arranged, my dear sweet boy. Go now.” She made shooing motions with her hands, laughing. She gave him a quick hug and stepped away. Zach allowed himself to be pulled from the main room by Tony.

Tony blushed scarlet, it really clashed with his hair. He gulped.

“Well, we’re spending the next few days at the Ritz, my sweetheart.”

“But,” Zach spluttered.

Mary bustled over to them and said,

“It’s our present to you boys. Sarah and I agreed that you needed some special time away from everything, just to be and to reconnect. You’ve been through so much, both of you.”

Zach’s eyes glistened as he hugged his mum. He eyed Tony.

“I did wonder why you weren’t drinking, my love.”

Tony chuckled and swept him out of the hotel to the parked Bentley. People came out to wave them goodbye.

The Penthouse Suite at the Ritz was beautiful not that Zach or Tony spent a lot of time admiring the décor. 

Tony woke up wrapped up in his husband’s arms, his new favourite place to wake up in. He turned and whispered,

“Good morning, husband.” Zach sleepily whispered back,

“Good morning, I love you my husband.” 

Zach opened his eyes to an avalanche of kisses and slid his hands down to Tony’s bum and gave him a squeeze.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The kisses became heated and they were soon stroking each other to hardness. Zach grabbed some lube and began to slowly stretch Tony’s hole. Tony positioned himself above Zach and slowly sank down on Zac’s cock, stretching him further. Tony stretched and captured Zach’s lips for another heated kiss. Tony moved and undulated his body while Zach thrust up into his husband’s hot centre. They both came at the same time. Afterwards, they showered together.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

It was later that Tony broached a subject that he had been thinking about a lot.

“Zach?”

“Yes, my heart?”

Tony always gasped at that endearment. It always made him feel giddy.

“How would you feel if we looked into fostering or even adoption some kids?”

Zach’s eyes brightened and his mouth did that thing where his smile lit up the whole universe, Tony’s universe.

“Oh, that would be wonderful, my dear.”


	17. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a little insight into their future together. Someone appears at the Bookshop who Tony was not expecting. But who??

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG!! It's here, the epilogue to my first finished multi chaptered work. 
> 
> I have loved every single second of writing and posting this. Getting to interact with you all, my lovely readers, through the comments and on twitter and facebook has been lovely. However as you know this is not the end. I have a sequel that follows the boys directly from the epilogue. Plus I have a prequel planned that picks up the parents story, Peter and Sarah, and Gabriel and Mary. The prequel will take a bit longer to write as I have more multi chaptered fics in the works.
> 
> I thank you for every single reaction, interaction, comment and kudos that I have received. A special thank you goes to SalMaeJay for the artwork that is included in this series. It's lovely and was totally unexpected. Love your face, my dear. You have had a huge positive influence on me as a writer. May you continue to be wonderful and know that I very much appreciate every conversation that we have.
> 
> Now, as they say, on with the show!!

Life went on, Tony became a go to for the students, helping and supporting their studies. He also started learning about plants and trees as well as the chemicals he used in his daily job.

Zachariah enjoyed his work in the Bookshop now that it was up and running, advising customers of cheaper books elsewhere if needs be. He had become quite protective of his books in the Bookshop. He would always recommend an alternative source of books to potential clients. Sometimes he didn’t even open the Bookshop.

The children of the Fell family continued to age and grow, pulling at Zach’s heartstrings. He and Anthony had talked at length at various options of them becoming fathers, from adoption, fostering and surrogacy. Anthony’s mum supported their discussions and offered to do research on their behalf at her library.

They had also talked to local fostering and adoption agencies local to them, just to get a feel for what was involved and any costs.

Ana and Newt became engaged and then had subsequently married in the next year.

Mary and Sarah had become great friends. Anthony got the brothers and sister that he had always wanted. Him and Zach became the fun Uncle’s to all of Zach’s siblings’ children.

Tony had just celebrated his 26th birthday with Zach in the shop. It was a Saturday and they had just come down getting ready to spend a day in the park, with a picnic. They had just walked out of the shop when Tony spotted a face with eyes very similar to his own looking at him.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Artwork for DarknessandFyre's You and Me Makes Us](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28958520) by [SMITSJUSTAJAYREALLY](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SMITSJUSTAJAYREALLY/pseuds/SMITSJUSTAJAYREALLY)




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